August 18, 2010

Drinker Biddle Lands International Trade Group from Hunton & Williams

Drinker Biddle & Reath has brought on three lawyers and an international trade analyst from Hunton & Williams for its customs and international trade practice in Washington.

The group includes William Silverman and Douglas Heffner, who join as partners; Richard Ferrin, as counsel; and Eric Johnson as a senior international trade analyst.

The group primarily focuses on international trade litigation, concentrating on antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and administrative review proceedings. Their clients include foreign manufacturing firms and international trading companies that are respondents in trade investigations and U.S. companies that are petitioners in trade investigations. Some companies they have represented are ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc., Continental Accessory Corp., and the Furniture Retailers of America.

Silverman has represented international companies before the International Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He has argued cases before the Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Heffner works with foreign clients to establish preventive monitoring programs designed to avoid or minimize the impact of antidumping investigations. He advises foreign companies concerning bilateral and multilateral disputes arising from regulations and rulings made by the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the World Trade Organization.

Drinker Biddle now has customs and international trade practice, which includes nine lawyers and three trade professionals in its Washington and Chicago offices.

Lawyers from the group were not immediately available for additional comment.